Winona Forest Winterfest, ski race canceled due to snow and cold

Dick Blume / The Post-StandardJerry Rossomondo uses a snowblower to clear snow in front of his house on Carbon Street in Syracuse. Much of Central New York will be under a lake-effect warning from 10 a.m. today to noon Saturday.

Update:

Mannsville, NY - The Winona Forest Winterfest & Try-It XC Ski Race has been canceled for Saturday because of the frigid temperatures, wind chill and lake-effect snow. The events will be rescheduled for February, according to the Winona Forest Recreation Association.

Earlier:

Syracuse, NY – It’s shaping up to be a good weekend to hunker down someplace dry and warm – or to bundle up, break out the skis, skates or snowshoes and have some fun.

Much of Central New York will be under a lake effect snow warning from 10 a.m. today to noon Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

The warning follows a blast of snow that has closed schools or delayed classes in the eastern end of the region. Syracuse.com has a list.

Anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of new snow may fall in areas where the snow bands persist in northern Onondaga, northern Madison and Oneida counties, the weather service’s Binghamton office said. Snowfall could be particularly heavy this afternoon and evening, up to an inch an hour.

As the snow falls, so will the temperature. The thermometer is expected to top off in the low to mid 20s when snow starts falling later this morning, drop into the teens this evening and reach single digits late tonight. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph will drive the snow before subsiding late tonight, the weather service says.

Northern Wayne, northern Cayuga, Oswego and southern Lewis counties can expect more intense snow, the weather service’s Buffalo office said. Six inches to a foot of snow is forecast for those areas with 2 feet possible under persistent snow bands. Expect winds out of the west at 15 to 30 mph, gusting to 45 mph.

The expected storm would be the back end of the two weak low-pressure systems that pushed through overnight and brought several inches of snow to the region, said Joanne LaBounty, a meteorologist with the Binghamton office.

Dick Blume / The Post-StandardA school bus navigates snow-covered roads at First North and Danforth streets in Syracuse. A lake-effect snow warning will be in effect from 10 a.m. today to noon Saturday.

Those systems -- one over the Great Lakes, the other along the New York-Pennsylvania line -- joined forces and are heading over the Atlantic Ocean, LaBounty said.

The combined low is expected to strengthen and cruise northeast over the Gulf of Maine later today, bringing heavy snow to northern New England. Winds circulating counterclockwise around the low are expected to sweep over the Great Lakes, bringing lake effect to Central New York.

The new snow will come atop the 0.5 inches that fell Thursday at Syracuse Hancock International Airport. That brought January’s total to 33.1 inches and the seasonal snowfall to 106.7 inches, the weather service said.